Alexei Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec each had a goal and an assist
to lead the Canadiens past the Bruins, 2-1, on Thursday night at
TD Banknorth Garden.

Three weeks after suffering a humiliating 6-1 loss in Montreal,
the Bruins fared no better on home ice in falling to the
Canadiens for the fifth straight time.

"We've been working really hard at it the last couple of weeks
and it's starting to pay off right now," Canadiens coach Guy
Carbonneau said.

The Bruins lost their fourth straight game - all to Northeast
Division rivals - and have scored just five goals in that span.
They went 0-for-4 on the power play and have failed to convert
on their last 13 chances with the man advantage.

"Right now, our power play is not working, and our guys who are
capable of making plays, aren't," Bruins coach Claude Julien
said. "The power play can be a pressure situation, and maybe
it's a case of trying too hard, but we need to do better."

Montreal opened a four-game road trip through the division by
winning its third straight road game dating to October 18.

The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead just before the first intermission
when Kovalev finished off an odd-man rush for his team-leading
eighth goal, tapping in a shot by Plekanec with just under three
minutes remaining in the first.

Plekanec took a pass from Andrei Kostitsyn, who streaked across
the Bruins' blue line and down the left wing.

Moments after failing to convert on its first power-play chance
of the night, Montreal doubled the lead with some crisp passing
from Plekanec's line.

Kovalev came down the right wing again and fed Kostitsyn. The
left wing then dropped a pass for Plekanec, who deked goaltender
Tim Thomas for his fifth tally of the season.

"It's not a pretty style they play, with the trapping and the
deliberate style, so you have to make the most of your
opportunities when they come and not turn the puck over,"
Kovalev said. "I thought we did a good job of that tonight. We
still could have done a better job in many areas, but it was a
good win."

For the first 30 minutes, the Bruins could muster little against
rookie netminder Carey Price, who was making just his fifth NHL
start and finished with 28 saves.

"The guys played well in front of me," Price said. "I had a
chance to see all the shots all night. They play a trapping
system, so I knew it would be a low-scoring game. I thought we
skated all right and moved the puck to get our chances. Our
line was able to get to the puck when we needed to and score."

Marc Savard came close to breaking through midway through the
second, when his wrister from the right faceoff circle beat
Price to the far side but rang off the left goalpost.

The Bruins got on the scoreboard thanks to some persistence in
the second. Chuck Kobasew was denied on the doorstep by Price,
but the netminder could not control the rebound.

Marco Sturm collected the puck and snapped a backhander past
Price for his sixth goal, tying Kobasew and Phil Kessel for the
team lead.

The Bruins had their best chance when the Canadiens took
penalties three seconds apart in the third. With Mike Komisarek
in the box for high-sticking and fellow defenseman Francis
Bouillon banished for delay of game, Boston was unable to muster
the tying goal.

"We have to find a way to score on that 5-on-3," said blue-liner
Dennis Wideman, Boston's point man on the power play. "We have
the players, but maybe we're pressing too much."

Late in the third, the Bruins and their fans witnessed yet
another scary moment when defenseman Aaron Ward had to be helped
off the ice by Wideman and Andrew Alberts.

Ward lay prone for several minutes - face-down on the ice -
after taking an elbow from Bouillon with just over five minutes
remaining.

"It was an elbow to the head. That's all we know," Julien said.

The incident came just hours after Boston's Patrice Bergeron
spoke for the first time since suffering a broken nose and Grade
3 concussion following a hit in by Philadelphia's Randy Jones
on October 27.

Despite giving up just two goals and making 30 saves, Thomas
fell to 4-10-0 lifetime against Montreal.